Steelers Won’t Be Taking Giants Lightly: ‘This is not Homecoming’
The Pittsburgh Steelers are 6-point favorites against the 2-5 New York Giants on Monday night, but you won’t find anyone on the Steelers taking this game lightly. In the NFL, anything can happen. The Cleveland Browns upset the Baltimore Ravens, 29-24, on Sunday, while the Green Bay Packers eked out a 30-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“Man, I’ve been 1-7 before and almost made the playoffs,” Steelers linebacker Elandon Roberts said. “So I’m a true believer that football really starts after Thanksgiving. These are NFL players that respect each other.”
“It’s the NFL,” Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen added. “They here for a reason. So I don’t look at the whole record and all this and that stuff. Every single guy on that team got to the NFL for a reason. We all know what’s at stake.”
The Steelers also dropped two games in a row last season to team’s who only had two wins at the time — the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is well aware that it’s Any Given Sunday in the National Football League.
“It’s not college football. We’re not playing a Group of Five team. This is not homecoming. This is the National Football League. It’s the ultimate parity league,” Tomlin said during The Mike Tomlin Show. “And to be honest with you, it’s proven week in and week out why that whole discussion is somewhat irrelevant. That’s just how fragile this thing is. Those of us who are in it know that and it doesn’t require a lot of discussion in-house.”
The Giants are a struggling team at 2-5 right now, but they do excel at getting after the quarterback. The G-Men lead the NFL in sacks with 31. Lawrence leads the league in sacks with nine, which is unheard of for a nose tackle.
The Giants have a 12.6% sack rate on defense so far this season. That’s the highest sack rate since 2001 for any team through seven games, according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell.
On the flip side, the Giants offense has been horrendous this season, averaging just 14.1 points per game (tied for 30th). The Steelers defense ranks second in points allowed per game (14.4). The Giants offensive line has also struggled immensely this season, allowing eight sacks in last Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.
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